The Scariest Ingredients in Your Food

By Bill Phillips and the Editors of Men’s Health

I always tell my daughters they can make a difference in the world, even at their tender ages of 10 and 7. To them, I probably sound like the teacher from Peanuts—they’re more interested in soccer and American Girl right now—but I hope the lesson eventually sinks in.My latest example of a kid heroics for them: 15-year-old Sarah Kavanagh from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who gathered more than 200,000 signatures in her online petition asking Gatorade to remove a controversial flame-retardant chemical.  Gatorade announced that they would be removing the ingredient, brominated vegetable oil (BVO), within the next couple of months. That’s great news—especially for me personally, because I love the stuff! Actually, so do my daughters.While Gatorade spokeswoman Molly Carter said the decision wasn’t in response to Sarah’s petition, the teen is claiming victory. Either way, we all win.Truth is, chemicals that are used as weed killer, flame retardant, and sunscreen are startlingly common in your supermarket. But you won’t find “carcinogens,” “paint chemicals,” or “beaver anal gland juice” on the back panel. They’ll be hidden under names like “Butylated Hydroxy Anisole” or “natural flavoring.” Break through the science experiment to find out what you’re really eating.

Here are the 11 scariest ingredients in your food:

Acesulfame Potassium (Acesulfame-K)

WHAT IT IS: A calorie-free artificial sweetener 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is often used with other artificial sweeteners to mask a bitter aftertaste.
FOUND IN: More than 5,000 food products worldwide, including diet soft drinks and no-sugar-added ice cream.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Although the FDA has approved it for use in most foods, many health and industry insiders claim that the decision was based on flawed tests. Animal studies have linked the chemical to lung and breast tumors and thyroid problems.

Aspartame

WHAT IT IS: A near-zero-calorie artificial sweetener made by combining two amino acids with methanol. Most commonly used in diet soda, aspartame is 180 times sweeter than sugar.
FOUND IN: More than 6,000 grocery items including diet sodas, yogurts, and the table-top sweeteners NutraSweet and Equal. (Did you know that most flavored yogurt is a step above ice cream?
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Over the past 30 years, the FDA has received thousands of consumer complaints due mostly to neurological symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, memory loss, and, in rare cases, epileptic seizures. Many studies have shown aspartame to be completely harmless, while others indicate that the additive might be responsible for a range of cancers.

Titanium Dioxide

WHAT IT IS: A component of the metallic element titanium commonly used in paints and sunscreens. The food industry adds it to hundreds of products to make overly processed items appear whiter.
FOUND IN: Processed salad dressing, coffee creamers, and icing.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Titanium is a mined substance that’s sometimes contaminated with toxic lead. Plus, most white dressings (like creamy ranch) aren’t great for you anyway. Both your health and your waistline will fare better if you go with an olive oil- or vinegar-based salad topper instead.

Glyphosphate

WHAT IT IS: The active ingredient in the popular weed killer Roundup. It’s used on corn and soy crops genetically engineered to withstand a heavy dousing of the chemical.
FOUND IN: Most nonorganic packaged foods containing corn- and soy-derived ingredients. Because it’s a systemic herbicide, it’s taken up by the plant—meaning you eat it.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Glyphosphate exposure is linked to obesity, learning disabilities, and infertility.

Butylated HydroxyAnisole (BHA)

WHAT IT IS: A petroleum-derived antioxidant used to preserve fats and oils.
FOUND IN: Beer, crackers, cereals, butter, and foods with added fats.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Studies have shown BHA to cause cancer in the forestomachs of rats, mice, and hamsters. The Department of Health and Human Services classifies the preservative as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”

Interesterified Fat

WHAT IT IS: A semi-soft fat created by chemically blending fully hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated oils. It was developed in response to the public demand for an alternative to trans fats.
FOUND IN: Pastries, pies, margarine, frozen dinners, and canned soups.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Testing on these fats has not been extensive, but the early evidence doesn’t look promising. A study by Malaysian researchers showed a 4-week diet of 12 percent interesterified fats increased the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol. Furthermore, this study showed an increase in blood glucose levels and a decrease in insulin response.

Red #3 (Erythrosine) and Red #40 (Allura Red)

WHAT THEY ARE: Food dyes that are orange-red and cherry red, respectively. Red #40 is the most widely used food dye in America.
FOUND IN: Fruit cocktail, candy, chocolate cake, cereal, beverages, pastries, maraschino cherries, and fruit snacks.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The FDA has proposed a ban on Red #3 in the past, but so far the agency has been unsuccessful in implementing it. After the dye was inextricably linked to thyroid tumors in rat studies, the FDA managed to have the liquid form of the dye removed from external drugs and cosmetics.

Yellow #5 (Tartrazine) and Yellow #6 (Sunset Yellow)

WHAT THEY ARE: The second and third most common food colorings, respectively.
FOUND IN: Cereal, pudding, bread mix, beverages, chips, cookies, and condiments.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Several studies have linked both dyes to learning and concentration disorders in children, and there are piles of animal studies demonstrating potential risks such as kidney and intestinal tumors. One study found that mice fed high doses of sunset yellow had trouble swimming straight and righting themselves in water. The FDA does not view these as serious risks to humans.

Castoreum

WHAT IT IS: Beaver anal gland juice. Really. Beavers combine it with their urine to mark their territory.
FOUND IN: Vanilla or raspberry flavoring in processed foods, labeled only as “natural flavoring.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: It’s beaver anal gland juice.

Meatless Mondays: Eating to Save the World

by Ellen Kanner

October 1 – World Vegetarian Day, kicking off a whole month of meatless joy and awareness. Just in time, too, because honey, people need some of both. As a lead-up to World Vegetarian Day, I spoke to two different groups about my favorite subject — eating to save the world.

That sounds like a tall order. Can what we eat end sickness, war, global hunger or environmental catastrophe, basically your Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? I believe it’s possible. As I say in my book, “Feeding the Hungry Ghost,” change your diet, then change your life, then change the world. Any move towards a greener diet results in a stronger, healthier you and a stronger, healthier planet.

A diet of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans, nuts and seeds results in longer, healthier lives, according to a June JAMA study. Stanford University finds a produce-driven diet helps the planet live better, too. Growing produce generates less carbon emissions and uses less water than raising livestock and takes less of an environmental toll. Livestock production is also one of our greatest causes of deforestation, which is making for a hotter, less sustainable planet. And a new University of Minnesota study finds if we switch farmland dedicated to livestock production and livestock feed to food for us, we’d have a recipe to end global hunger.

The possibilities are so amazing, I get revved when I do these presentations — and I’m not a big talker by nature. I am, however, a very, very good listener. The best part for me comes after my presentation, when I can hear what’s going on with people in the audience. What they tell me is they’re overwhelmed — food allergies, environmental concerns, a kid who only eats chicken nuggets, no time. I try to offer people some real concrete takeaway, including my number one multitasking tool — eat less processed, more produce. I show how to add greens to your favorite foods, the ones you already turn to for comfort. I provide plant-based incentive by make something vegan to sample — free eats that taste good and do both you and the planet great good, too.

We often feel helpless in our daily lives — God know I do. Superhero? Not so much. No obvious superhero power or even fab superhero gear. And yet, we all have the power to save the world with something we do every day — by choosing what we eat.

Like I said, we could use some joy and awareness, and now’s the time. Yesterday Meatless Monday, today is World Vegetarian Day, October is Vegetarian Awareness Month. Let’s observe, honor and celebrate it by remembering eating is an essential, life-sustaining act sustaining act, for you — and if you do it right, for the planet, too.

Black Beans and Kale Save the World

Using canned beans saves you time, making dried beans from scratch will be cheaper — and results in more tender beans. You deserve tenderness but it’s your call.

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1 hot pepper, like a jalapeño, chopped
12 ounces dried black beans cooked with 2 garlic cloves and 2 bay leaves
OR 2 15-ounce cans prepared black beans with their bean broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar OR 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 head kale or Swiss chard, sliced into skinny ribbons*
sea salt to taste

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until they start to sweat, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and both the sweet and hot pepper.

Stir to combine and reduce heat to medium. Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, for another 15 minutes, until they’re softened and aromatic.

Add the black beans. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium, set the pot lid on halfway, leaving a little steam vent.

Cook the beans for an hour, longer if you’ve got the time. Add a quarter cup of water if necessary. The beans should be thick but not over-dry. The goal is a divine beanly sludge.

Stir in the tomato paste, smoked paprika and sherry or cider vinegar. Remove from heat.

Add the chiffonade of kale or chard by the handful. Stir gently, letting the greens wilt into the beans.

Season with sea salt to taste.

Serves 6 to 8.

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Understanding God – part 1

Excerpt from Master Ching Hai Lectures

I have no intention to convince you that God exist. I am only among you to connect you with God, and then you will be able to believe me. I do not blame atheists because they do not see God inside of themselves. Not everyone can believe without proof. For those who do not believe in God, I offer them the opportunity to see Him through immediate enlightenment, so that you may discover your own nature, your own God-self.

You see, seeing is believing. God is too abstract, too intangible for us, if He is not brought down nearer to our understanding a little. How can He expect us to believe? This is blind faith. This is why I left to find enlightenment because I couldn’t just read the Bible, read the scriptures, and say I believe Buddha, I believe God.  I had to have proof. I prayed to God every day. Please, if You exist, show me the way so I can find You, contact with You somehow. Open my eyes, open my ears, let me see, let me know at least Your love. Let me feel, let me know that You take care of us in some way or another. So after enlightenment, after initiation you will feel everyday that God is taking care of you. Truly that is so in all ways, in any situation, small things, big things. God does really take care and love us, and smoothes things out for us. Helps us in accidents, in sickness. He helps us in our dark days, helps us in every way. Then you may know that God truly exists. You will feel the overwhelming love power protecting and loving you. That is God. This is why people say God is love.

We have only to go upward to a higher and glorious world, to be near our Almighty God. The ocean of love and mercy is what we call God. He is not a being, although He might manifest Himself sometimes as a being to let us feel close, to be able to touch Him, and communicate with Him. Otherwise He is only an ocean of love and mercy and blessing and compassion. Everything that is good and joyous, that is God. We ourselves at the moment, even without initiation, without knowing our innate wisdom, our inborn heavenly power, we are still God.

Any time you manifest love toward your neighbor, toward your children, your friends, your relatives or anyone in need, you manifest God. So the more we manifest this kind of compassion, love, mercy and wisdom, the more we are near to God. But God in this sense is too limited. We can only help a handful of people at a time. God, in the ultimate sense, can help the whole world. So this is the goal we strive to achieve. This is what Buddha and Jesus achieved.

When the Buddha was alive, He told a story about four blind persons who touched an elephant and described it. The one who touched his ears said, ‘wow, an elephant is like a fan, a big fan,’ and another one who touched his legs said, ‘an elephant is like the pillar of a house’, and the other one who touched his nose said, ‘the elephant looks like a water pipe, a hose,’ and the one who touched his tail said, ‘an elephant is like a broomstick,’ (laughter). This is how we see God. This is how ordinary people see God, and this is how practitioners from different levels see God. Therefore, it is said that God is within you, Buddha is in your mind. That is the meaning of it.
For more information, please visit:  http://www.godsdirectcontact.org